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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces demolished seven houses across the southern West Bank on Wednesday, leaving seven families homeless.

Bulldozers demolished three houses and a well in the Bethlehem town of al-Khader on Wednesday, witnesses said.

Locals told Ma'an that two Israeli bulldozers, escorted by Israeli police, raided the town and demolished three properties belonging to Ali Salim Moussa and Ismail Mahmoud Moussa, leaving six families homeless.

Israeli forces also destroyed a water well in the village during the raid.

On Wednesday evening, meanwhile, Israeli forces demolished four buildings and two animal sheds in the Zeef area south of Hebron because they had allegedly been built without a permit.

The buildings belonged to Eid Zayid Abu Thaher and his three children, his brother said.

The family as well as the cattle they own have no place to stay, his brother added, noting that Israeli forces did not inform them beforehand of the demolition.

On Tuesday, Israeli bulldozers demolished a Palestinian home in the Hebron town of Idhna.

Israel rarely grants construction permits to Palestinians in the West Bank, and regularly demolishes structures built without permits.

In May, the EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah urged Israel to halt home demolitions in Area C of the West Bank, describing such actions as "forced transfer of population and demolitions of Palestinian housing and infrastructure."

Israel has demolished 248 Palestinian structures and displaced 492 people so far in 2014, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

Some 27,000 Palestinian homes and structures have been demolished by Israel since it occupied the West Bank in 1967.

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